| | | ESA's Sentinel satellites |  |  | | |
| | Sentinel-1 | |
Sentinel-1
The Sentinel-1 European Radar Observatory is a polar-orbiting satellite system for the continuation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operational applications.
Sentinel-1 is a C-band imaging radar mission consisting of a pair of satellites aimed at providing an all-weather day-and-night supply of imagery for GMES user services. The first Sentinel-1 satellite is envisaged to launch in 2012 and will be followed by the second satellite a few years later.
Dedicated to GMES, Sentinel-1 will ensure the continuity of C-band SAR data and build on ESA’s and Canada’s heritage with SAR systems carried on ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat and Radarsat. At the same time, the mission parameters have been greatly improved to meet GMES user requirements, especially in areas such as revisit time, geographical coverage and rapid data dissemination.
As a result, the Sentinel-1 pair is expected to provide coverage over Europe and Canada in less than two days, independent of weather conditions. Radar data will be delivered within an hour of acquisition – a vast improvement over existing SAR systems.
| | | Sentinel-1 will aid sea-ice monitoring |
Sentinel-1 data will benefit numerous services. For example, services that relate to the monitoring of Arctic sea-ice extent, routine sea-ice mapping, surveillance of the marine environment including oil-spill monitoring and ship detection for maritime security, monitoring land-surface motion risks, mapping of land surface for forest, water and soil management and mapping in support of humanitarian aid and crisis situations.
The design of the Sentinel-1 satellite mission with its focus on reliability, operational stability, global coverage, consistent operations and quick data delivery is expected to enable the development of new applications and meet the evolving needs of GMES.
Sentinel-1 is being realised by an industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space Italy as Prime Contractor, with Astrium Germany responsible for the C-SAR payload incorporating the central radar electronics subsystem developed by Astrium UK.
Last update: 15 October 2009 | |
